Rocking and galloping horse



July 10, 1928. a $1,676,365

N. SMIRNOFF ROCKING AND GALLOPING HORSE Filed June 15, 1927 INVENTOR A TTORE Y have an advance ortravel motion.

' NICHOLAS smrrmorr, or BROOKLYN, N W' YORK":

ROCKING Ann GALQIJOPING HORSE.

Application filed June 13,

This invention relates to rocking horses and in particular to one adapted to be used by a child in play. The most important object of the lnvention is to provide a rocking horse which, while capable of a rocking motion Wlll also A further object of the invention isto provide a device ofthis character which will be simple in construction and parts of which will operate to advance the rocking horse with a predetermined speed and without jar or jerking operation of its parts. I v

A further particular object ofthe inven-i tion is the provision of a rocking horse, the rockers of which are so curved that they can inter-work during their swinging movement to steadily advance the horse during a rocking motion thereof. I I

To enable others skilled in the art to fully comprehend the underlying features of my invention that they may embody the same in the various modifications in structure and relation contemplated, a drawing depicting a preferred form has-been annexed as a part ofthi's disclosure and in such drawing, similar reference characters denote correspond,- ing parts throughout all the jviews,of which,

I I Figure 1 isa jview inisectional elevation of a rocking horse constructed in accordance with myinvention, the ;same'belng shown partly in section toillustrate the inner parts thereofand the position of'the rockingmembers being so illustrated that they show that the figureis about to take an advance 'moveit ment; Figure 2 1s a yiew similar to Figure 1 showing how the construction of the rocking 1 horse would 7 appear after it is rocked forward on the front'rocker and the horse rotatesabout. its pivot pointto bring the rear rocker forward. 7- W ;Figure 3 is a view in rear ;sectional ;elevation taken on the line 33 of Figure-I, the

' 'view illustrating the relative positions 'of the rockers, and their operating elements;

erring to thedrawings-indetail,1 in

dic ates ;the hollow body of rocking ;horse I ;whiehisprferably formed of two symmetrical halves of moulded material, such as fibre; shaped toform the horsebody and-arranged Jto receive the rear rocker or main frame 2, wh1ch conslsts of the suitable frame I pieces 2* joined at their cornersby the cor her plates 2 the diagonally I disposed plates being 'joinedby' the brace piece 2 and other 1927, Serial 198,529.

suitable tie rods; the extended porti0ns2 of V the rear rocker frame isjoined through't-he medium of a suitable reinforce plate 2 to the rear rocker piec'es 3, these rocker frames 2 being disposed at bothsides of the body of the animal and being. joined by the vari-.

there being also provided at the front end of the frame pieces 2 and extending transous tie rods 7 and 9 and the pivot'rod 4,

versely. of the horse to connect the front, end

of the frame pieces,-the cross piece 22, the

purpose of which will be hereinafter 'described. The ends of the pivot rod 4 are secured in the frame pieces Qa'nd are varranged to provide an axlefor pivot on which the front rocker frameswings, the fronts-rocker frame consisting of the bell crank shaped members 5 which .,'are suitably joined through the medium of plates 5 to the rockers 6, there being one of each of the front rocker frame pieces 5 at each side ofthe body of the horse .a'nd adjacent the main. pieces 2 but inside thereof, so that the rockers 6 swing inside the rear rockers 3,

frame I the bell crank members 5 are.

joined by the tie rods 11,' 12,- 13, '16, and

27, while the rockers 6 are joined by the tie rods l4-and 15 and the rockers 3 are joined by-the tie rods 10 .and 29, the lower extensions of the frameppiece's 2 being-alsojoined by thetie rod 8'to' which is 'securedoneend of a ten sion spring 23, the opposite end of the spring being seeuredito the tie rod 11 which, connects the free endo fithe bell crank rocker member 5. The tie rod 12 has pivoted there to intermediate-its ends, the latch 20, the extended portion '20 I-0f whichiis adaptedto contact withrandjbe limited 'in'its movement by'the tie rod 16, whichwill belater ex- ,plained; The end 20 of the latch 20 is urged against the tie rod 116 fthroughthe medium of the spring. 24: which isflsecured at "its opposite end tothe tie rod 13, i

I am "quite aware that patents have been obtained upon: rocking horses which are adaptedto travel longitudinallybut one-of I v i the large probleins in making a. successful device of this character has been not only the properfcurvature of therockers but has been ;the arrangement-of parts'to givejthem necessary advance movement without interferingwith the rocking mot-ion ofthejhorse. g

I haveovercome these problems by provid l which secured to the. lower end the iipjidrod 7147 which, is connected thence-vs -1n "on'the pivot rod 4, a suitablependulum the pendulum 18 will It is quite evident, from reference to Figure 1 that when the horse is occupied and is being rocked that at the moment of rocking ahead from the position shown in Figure 1, remain in its vertical position revolving on the pivot rod 4: thereby causing the pendulum arm 17 to pull on the string 19by the progressive rocking in a forward direction. This pull overpowers the action of the spring 24 and lifts the 7 starting the withthe exception of the pendulum,

hookor latch 20 free from its latched position in connection with the latch plate 21 which is suitably positioned on the cross bar 22 in position to be engaged by the latch. NVhen the latch has been disconnected, the forward frame pieces or bell crank shaped members 5'will of course be disconnected from the cross bar 22. It will be noted that while this connection existed, the whole strui'ture rocked without changing the relative position or arrangement of its parts which of course, is hung vertically at all times, but after the disconnection of the latch, the body of the horse under weight of the rider turns about thepivot rod 1. This will be evident from inspection of Figure 2 wherein is shown the position assumed after rotation has been accomplished and at themoment of backward rocking motion; 7

It'is not necessary to go into the mathema tical computations of the curves of the rockers as they have been especially designed to enable the continued rocking motion of the horse. 'It'is suflicient to say that this 3, which of course allows the bell ,shaped members 5 under action of the spring 23'to be immediately restored to their former special construction of the curves of the rocker. are so shaped that the end of rotation places the "curves C -D-below the curve N-B', thereby allowing the rearward rocking motion to take place only on the rockers crank position asshown in Figure 1. It is of course evident that the spring 23, while in "rotation, is drawn out as shown inFigure 2 and its tension gradually increasing, provides a great degree of elasticity to the'rotation of the horse.

From the moment of starting the rearward rocking motion, rockers 6 are raised from the ground and the contraction of the spring 23 turns the levers 5 about thepivot rod 4 until they abut against the cross bar 22. When this occurs, the hook 20 or latch slides over the latch plate 21 and falls over the edge thereof, making under the pull of the spring 24, a positive connection between the lever 5 and the cross bar 22. Due to this action, as described, the horse will advance after each rocking motion back and forth, a distance corresponding to the length of the curve N-B which represents the tread of the galloping horse.

It is quite evident that by changing the length of the string 19 or the point of its connection to the pendulum arm 17-13, I

can change the starting moment of rotation and can thereby control the distance of travel of the rockers with each rocking movement. In order to stop the free swinging movement of the pendulum to convert the galloping horse into a plain rocking horse, I'have provided an eye 26 on the rear face of the pendulum 18 andin alignment therewith but positioned p'ivotally on the-tie bar 9, I have provided the hook 25 which is arranged to engage the eye 26 to maintain the pendulum 18 at a certainjposition so that advance of thehorse will nott ake place during a rocking movement. The forward rockers 6 are joined together by the tie rods 14: and 15 and'it is quite evident that they do not interfere with the rotating motion of the horse because the rockers 6 posed inwardly of the rockers 3. a

The position of-the pivot rod 4 or the center of rotation is determined in a practical are disway so that the best balancing conditions of the whole structure are obtained but in any case, it must be nearer to .the neck of the horse and approximately asshown in the figures ofthe drawing.

The moul'led fibre body'which may include a moulded saddle, is secured to the frame pieces 2 in any manner, such for in stance, as by screws, bolts, or the like and 'the moulded" hind legs of the body are in like manner secured to the lower extensions 2 of the rocking frames 2.

' It is quite evident, therefore, that I have provided a rocking horse ofsimplified construction which, due to the operation of its pendulum and pendulum operated hook,

first holds the body as a unitary structure and then releases part thereof so that there is a relative movement between the parts so that upon subsequent rotatingmotion, travel is obtained without in any way disturbing the rocking motion of the horse. It is also evident that I have provided a successfully operated rocking and'galloping horse :which 'hasfe'w parts,'wi-ll not get out of order and which will afford amusement to children by. providing 'not only the usual rocking motion but also one in longitudinal direction and the speedof travel will of course depend upon the speed with which the horse is: rocked. f I

'While I have illustrated and described my invention with some degree of particularity, :I realize that in practice various alterations therein may be made. I therefore reserve the right and privilege of changing the formof the details of construction or otherwise I claim as new and desire to secure by altering the arrangement of the correlated parts without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what United States Letters Patent is 1. A rocking horse comprising a body, a

main rocker frame securedtheretman aux iliary rocker frame pivoted to the main frame, a latch on the auxiliary frame for connecting the same to the main frame, a pendulum, a connection between the pendulum and the latch whereby during the rocking motion, the pendulum will release the latch to disconnect the frame'and said pivot point being located sot-hatafter release of the latch, the frame will swing forward about the pivot point and relatively to said auxiliary frame to cause advance movement of said horse. I I

2. A rocking horse comprising a. body, a main rocker frame secured thereto, an auxiliary vrocking frame pivoted to the main"v frame, a latch on the auxiliary frame for connecting the same to the main frame, a

latch, the mainframe williswing forward. aboutthe pivot point and relatively to said auxiliary .frameto cause advance movement ment of said main frame and adapted to position to be latched to said main frame.

vof said horse and a member arranged to be placed under tension upon a swinging move subsequently swing the auxiliary frame into '1 3. A rocking horse comprising a. body, a

main rocker frame, an auxiliary rocker frame pivoted thereto, a latch carried by one of said frames and arranged to relea sably secure the frames together, and a. pendulum connected to said latch and arranged to release the frames at a predetermined point in the rocking motion so that longitudinal movement of the rocking horse is caused.

.4. A rocking horse comprising a. body,'a

main rocker frame secured thereto, an aux-' i'liary rocker frame pivoted to the. main frame, a latch carried by the auxiliary frame for detachably joining both the frames together, a pendulum, a flexible connection between the pendulum and the latch for causing release of the latchpwhereby the main frame will have movement relative to the auxiliary frame to cause a longitudinal movement of the horse during rocking mo tion thereof and means for holding said pendulum whereby the connecting member is held flexible and release of the latch is' prevented. r

In testimon whereof I aflix my signature.

NICH LAS SllfIRNOFF. [L. s.] 

